What are you drinking now?

[islayjunkie]

With respect to our favorite topic, What did you drink last night? I propose we have a thread that keeps up to date with the present. This may be a good time to have a live whisky tasting on occasion.

[jakuda]

Macallan 12 yr. Old rectangular label. The code on the label says MEF111, don't know how that translates to when it was bottled.

[andrewfenton]

This may be a good time to have a live whisky tasting on occasion.

Would be good - perhaps on IRC or some instant messenger software? (not very up to date with these). If a fair few people could get the some bottling of something, it would be really interesting to get a live discussion from various viewpoints.

[MGillespie]

Great idea...maybe the webmasters here would consider adding a chat function to the site?

[Aidan]

I just finished a small sample of Bow Street 1963 - 27 yr old pure pot still. My tounge felt like a piece of wood for several minutes. I have never tasted anything with so much wood, pity, as the whiskey underneath would be excellent. A good experience though.

[Flamemax]

I'm having some Bowmore 17 at the moment.
Seeing that I am new to this I am trying to decipher if it has the FWS to it or not. It is indeed very peaty.. but FWS.. I'm not sure.
I guess I just need to buy a few more bottles from different loacations and compare??

[justin]

right now i'm enjoying a dram (or 3) of clynelish 14yr. . . i bought my first bottle a couple of weeks ago based on the good reviews i read on this forum. just to let you know how fond i am of this whisky, i bought two bottles today (one to drink right away and one to keep for a rainy day). it's not the cheapest bottle around, but it's worth every penny.

i don't respond to all the posts about under/over-rated whiskies, but cragganmore 12yr is damn good dram of whisky. just felt like throwing in my 2cents. . . .

tomorrow i'm probably going to finish my aberlour 15yr and maybe what's left of the laphroiag 15. . . . man life is tough

justin

[Crispy Critter]

Tonight, I just killed off a Caol Ila 18 OB with a very generous dram. Mmmmmmmm, good stuff! It's a mellowed-by-time type of Islay dram, with a nice sweet touch inside the peat. It doesn't seem as smoky as Lagavulin 16 - it's closer to Laphroaig 15 in character.

I still have a few more bottles to drain before I open something new, though.

Just poured a little nip of Knob Creek bourbon...

[wpt]

ardbeg provenance

[meatyork]

A cup of Yorkshire tea. Have been awful since Monday and had to be off alcohol . I'ts fun to read the notes and discussions here anyway.

[Mr Fjeld]

Right now I'm trying to prepare myself mentaly to a birthday party for a neighbour becoming 50! I have a strange feeling I won't touch alcohol in any form tomorrow - other than possibly in an antiseptic Anyway, I'm enjoying the Bruichladdich 10 which is the most overlooked of all Islays in my mind. I just love the smell of citrus and pears/apples and the maltiness of this whisky is really nice!

Enjoy your weekend!

Skål!
Christian

[patrick dicaprio]

Tonight, I just killed off a Caol Ila 18 OB with a very generous dram. Mmmmmmmm, good stuff! It's a mellowed-by-time type of Islay dram, with a nice sweet touch inside the peat. It doesn't seem as smoky as Lagavulin 16 - it's closer to Laphroaig 15 in character.

I still have a few more bottles to drain before I open something new, though.

Just poured a little nip of Knob Creek bourbon...

I have an unopened bottle of Caol Ila 18 yo. cant wait to open it!!

Pat

[andrewfenton]

Killing the Signatory 21yr old Highland Park, I poured the rest of the bottle into one mighty dram. Damn fine whisky, although probably overpriced compared to the 1990/2004 unchillfiltered. These bottlings are not too far distant from Brora, but without the price tag

[Crispy Critter]

Tonight I started out with a "malt" that isn't whisky - namely, beer. In this case, it was a couple of bottles of Czechvar (the alias for Budweiser Budvar in North America). Even though I tend to prefer ales, this lager is outstanding.

Now I'm following up with a dram of good old Ardbeg 10...

[wpt]

springbank 21yo

[Frodo]

I interpret this thread to inquire as to what I currently have open at home. In this case, 10yr old Clynelish (Hedges & Butler). To illustrate how much I like this whisky at it's price point, I chose NOT to buy 10yr Bruichladdich ON SALE (30% off) so that I could pick up another of these. Comperable prices (C$53 for the Bruichladdich to C$50 for the Clynelish).

Frodo

[Old Bollard]

At present I have four bottles opened, and aim to finish these before I move on to another four.
This is my "current policy" as a result of the discussions about open bottle deterioation - remains to see how long I manage to stand fast about this though - I can hear bottles crying for me....
Anyway; on 24 hour call just now:

Ardbeg 10 years
Cragganmore 12 years
Glen Moray 12 years
Tobermory 10 years

I'm quite happy with that selection; four quite different malts to suit my mood swings....

Slainte

Old Bollard

[rthomson]

I'm with you on that one. Currently I have Ardbeg 10 yo and Macallan cs opened. I've been enjoying both and I think it should hold me for a few days. I don't know how but my self-control has been keeping me in check lately and my wallet heartily thanks me for it. Still, that Bruichladdich Valinch keeps calling to me-

Ron

[islayjunkie]

I'm just finishing the last of an OMC Ardbeg 27yo '75. I'll save the last 2 drams for next week. A beautiful whisky but not worth the price. This is more of a collectors item. I'm going to try a '77 OB next if still available at standard pricing.

Sipping on a mini dram of Talisker 20yo '81. The Talisker has the most intense mouthfeel I've ever experienced... and it's almost gone

[karlejnar]

Tonight I'm enjoying John McDougall's Selection Bladnoch, a single cask 15yo at natural strength.

Wow - who said Lowlands are boring. This one is so full of character. Flowery, fruity, malty and really mouthfilling.

Can't wait to open the "Beltie" and "Sheep", two other fantastic cask strength Bladnoch's

[andrewfenton]

Interesting - Bladnoch's seem to be getting fairly good reviews recently. Maybe I'll have to pick one up.......

[islayjunkie]

I just killed a half bottle of St. Magdalene 19yo after I discovered the cork had failed. It fell apart when I attempted to remove it from the bottle. I was rather concerned that this bottle had gone bad... good excuse to continue drinking

I used the cork from the last bottle of St. Maggie to replace the bad cork. I'm wondering if my last shipment of 6 bottles might be affected.

When I received the shipment the bottles were "sweating" from condensation resulting from a very cold to warm (California) climate. Could this have killed the cork?

My first bottle's cork (from the same shipment) is wet and fragile which fell apart. I will sample another new bottle tomorrow to confirm.

[Ed]

Hello All,
I just opened a bottle of Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey 40%. Aged just four years it is a young whiskey. Some floral, citrus note in the nose, some sweetness, not honey, in the taste with some vanilla from the oak. Not woody. It has a bit of the bite I get from rye (not that I have had that many ryes), but really is fairly smooth for all that. Maybe because of the fairly low abv.
Ed

[islayjunkie]

I'm sipping St. Magdalene 19yo again after opening another bottle to inspect cork integrity. Out of 4 bottles I've opened 1 has had serious cork damage (dry and crumbled), 2 were a bit spongy and weak and 1 is in perfect shape which I've preserved with gas and recorked.

Based on 12 bottles I've received I'm predicting 25% of stock will spoil over the next few years. The corked (crumbled) bottle still tastes good but riper and slightly bitter.

hmmm... make that just "bitter". What a shame

[MGillespie]

Damn, that's a shame! Any way to get some relief from the sellers or the shipping company?

Mark

[wpt]

I'm sipping St. Magdalene 19yo again after opening another bottle to inspect cork integrity. Out of 4 bottles I've opened 1 has had serious cork damage (dry and crumbled), 2 were a bit spongy and weak and 1 is in perfect shape which I've preserved with gas and recorked.

Based on 12 bottles I've received I'm predicting 25% of stock will spoil over the next few years. The corked (crumbled) bottle still tastes good but riper and slightly bitter.

hmmm... make that just "bitter". What a shame

a suggestion: involved but may save your whisky flavor.
open bottle, sift contents through a coffee filter or similar sieve.
either rinse original bottle out and then replace whisky or use new bottle and then recork. i have had a talisker 20yo become "corked". my supposition was the bottle was laying on its side for some time at the merchants shop and the high alcohol content aids in cork disintegration

[MGillespie]

i have had a talisker 20yo become "corked". my supposition was the bottle was laying on its side for some time at the merchants shop and the high alcohol content aids in cork disintegration

Interesting idea...I know wine experts recommend storing bottles on their side to keep the cork moist. Hadn't thought about the higher alcohol content in spirits doing damage to a cork...

Mark

[karlejnar]

Never - I stress - never store spirit bottles lying down. They have to stand up.

BTW just poured a nice A'bunadh batch 10 - what a sherry monster

[MGillespie]

Note...I never actually store my spirit bottles on their side...just the wine ones!

Mark

[karlejnar]

Good - maybe I misunderstood.

But I guess my advice still goes as a general recommendation.

Anyway it's a bit sad if some wine & spirits dealers store whiskybottles lying down, because they think it's similar to wine one's.
Hope that's not the case anywhere

[Deactivated Member]

And here we go back to the cork thing.... It seems to me that a synthetic stopper would be a better closure for whisky, since you can't easily maintain a cork the way you ought to; either it dries out, or it gets dissolved by the alcohol. I'm assuming, of course, that a thoroughly inert synthetic material would be available.

[robertk]

Ho!

Hm, which one should I pick... on the top shelf (the one with the open ones) the following somewhat tax-free influenced selection stares at me..

Aberlour 10yo
Ardbeg 11yo G&M CC
Ardmore 27yo Sign
Auchentoshan 10yo
Bowmore 15yo
Bowmore Darkest
Bruichladdich Ten
Bruichladdich 12
Bruichladdich Fifteen
Bruichladdich XVII
Bruichladdich 11yo MMcD
Clynelish 12yo G&M Cask
Clynelish 14yo
Cragganmore 12yo
Glendronach 15yo
Laphroaig 15yo Sign UnChillF
Linkwood 18yo Benivor
Longmorn 15yo
Macallan 7yo Italian
Rosebank 10yo McGibbons

Most recently departed and most missed was a mouthwatering RMW cask bottling of Bladnoch, an Ardbeg 10 (another will soon bite the dust) and a (very) good example of Bowmore 17. Among the ones above I'd say the Clynelish cask and the Macallan 7yo is among the most pleasant surprises, thereby not saying there's *anything* wrong with the other ones!

Btw, I will get a RM St Magdalene 19yo tomorrow... all this cork stuff is making me nervous!

regards, Robert (who chose the youngest of the bunch)

[Paul A Jellis]

Right now, Linkwood 15yr old with a tiny, tiny drop of water.

[karlejnar]

Decided to add some peat on top of the a'bunadh sherry.

Poured Laphroaig 10yo CS

[Mr Fjeld]

Right now I'm drinking a traditional bottle Coca Cola - bottled 020305 with the new "chill label" stuck on it! Quite a presence of the cola nut in this one - and sweet of course!

Enjoy your whiskies!

Skål!
Christian